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BEIJING–After 17 days of spectacle and sport, the Olympic flame was extinguished at the Bird's Nest National Stadium last night.

But will its embers of influence continue to burn?

If there was an enduring set of images, a striking contrast, that emerged from the closing ceremonies, it was the boundless energy of youth bursting forth on the floor, while the stolid faces of Communist Party officials – mostly dour middle-aged men – looked on.

It was a complete disconnect. And you were left to wonder: Have these men harnessed a power that might overrun them in the long term?

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Once the choreographed portion of the program was past – a beautiful display of uniformity in numbers – the real stars of the show, the athletes, took to the field and suddenly it was all about free expression and individuality.

The athletes were having fun.

The Chinese people loved it.

Bringing the Games to Beijing was all about giving China a chance to strut its stuff on the world stage. China did that and more – on the playing field and off. It won the most gold medals, it wowed TV viewers worldwide and it shut down and jailed its critics at home.

But it also opened the door wide to the world. And the world rushed in.

Never in modern times has China had so many foreigners in the country at one time. Never has the world media been allowed to send in so many reporters, lavish so much attention on the country or have so much contact with its citizens.

"The world has learned about China and China has learned about the world," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said yesterday. "I believe this is something that will have positive effects in the long term."

The power of sport as a vehicle of international influence – primarily Western influence – can't be underestimated.

The most popular sport among Chinese youth today isn't table tennis or ping pong – but basketball.

"Chinese youth follow the NBA with a passion," sports writer Yi Xiashe told me last year. "Young people feel the NBA is about a new, cool culture – everything that is fresh, different, modern."

Chinese youth want all of that.

You needed to be here to see it up close: as foreign medallists left the podium, youthful Chinese volunteers swarmed them for autographs. On the streets and in the stands, Chinese people were awed and delighted by the boisterous nature of foreign fans: their face painting, their outlandish wearing of flags. In a country where authoritarian rule reigns, such flamboyance – even at this level – is rare.

And when soccer god David Beckham booted a ball into the crowd as part of a promo for London's 2012 Games, one young volunteer gathered it up and hung onto it as though it were a gold medal.

Chinese people are likely to cling to some of that foreign influence.

But that's not to say there wasn't a worrying downside to these Games.

The stunning opening ceremonies left world audiences wondering "why so much fakery?"

All but one of the televised 29 "steps" of fireworks leading to the stadium were produced in the studio and not real; the 56 children "from 56 ethnic minorities" were mainly from the Han majority; and – infamously – little Lin Miaoke didn't actually sing "Ode to the Motherland," but a talented little girl named Yang Peiyi did.

But there was another, more troubling narrative that paralleled these Games, one human rights groups believe will forever tarnish their legacy: the detention, disappearance and jailing of Chinese citizens deemed troublesome by the state.

One of those is Zeng Jinyan, wife of jailed rights activist Hu Jia. Zeng was under house arrest when she disappeared the day before the opening ceremonies. At the time, she was caring for her 8-month-old baby. Neither has been seen since.

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